Lifetest investigations with stainless steel/water heat pipes

Life tests were conducted on water heat pipes, made from four different alloys of stainless steel, at operation temperatures of 120, 160, 220, and 320 C in a reflux boiler mode for more than 20,000 hr. Other parameters varied during the tests included capillary structure, pretreatment and cleaning of the components, additional oxidation of the inner surface, filling procedures, amoung of liquid change, the number of ventings, and the duration of the reaction runs. The best results were obtained with pipes containing stainless steels with molybdenum alloy additions and with carbon contents of greater than 0.03%; with components which formed a protective surface layer; with the use of double-distilled water that had been ultrasonically degassed; with repeated ventings during the initial reaction run of 500 hr minimum duration; and with the addition of gaseous oxygen into the heat pipe during the reaction run with subsequent venting.